What happens if you get deferred college

Your student might express some disappointment, but should move quickly to say that he is still excited about being considered for regular admission and looks forward to the possibility of attending the school. Your student should find out who the regional representative for your area is and send the letter directly to him or her.

Your student might consider updated SAT scores, midyear grades, information about a new job or leadership position or honor or awards. Be careful not to overwhelm the Admissions Office, but do keep them in the loop with new, helpful information. If your student did not previously have an Admissions interview , he might request one now.

An opportunity to personally chat with someone from Admissions might be helpful. Your student should talk to her high school guidance counselor about suggestions for next steps. Now is a good time for your student to think carefully about how important this school is to him. He can put some effort into contacting the school, sending materials, requesting an interview, visiting campus, or he may decide to move on to other schools where his chances of admission might be better.

If your student has not already done so, now is the time to move ahead with other applications. A letter of deferred admission places your student in a difficult position. He is not in and he is not out. You should decide whether or not this school is still one of your top choices before taking any action.

If this school has now been bumped on your list and another school has taken its place, you might want to evaluate how important it is to you to get accepted. There are a few key actions you need to take to increase your chances of being admitted if a school is still your top choice. For further insight, check out this article from a Harvard student that was also deferred. Your deferral letter from the school will likely let you know any next steps you need to take. If the admissions office asks you to avoid doing something, take that seriously and really do avoid doing it.

Should your deferral letter ask you to provide more information, your first action should be to write a deferral letter around January or February. According to The Princeton Review , this deferral letter should provide an update to the admissions committee on what you have been up to since submitting your application to their institution. You should include your first semester grades and any other highlights. For example, if your football team won the regional championship with you as the captain you should definitely include this in the letter.

You should also let the school know that they are still your top choice and would gladly enroll should you be accepted. The school you were deferred from probably wants to see how you would finish off your high school career. This is why combating senioritis the lack of drive at the end of the year is extremely important. Being deferred is not the end of the world. In fact, it is just another opportunity to prove yourself to the admissions committee. It can be a huge advantage and should be taken as one.

Our college admissions experts are here to guide you from where you are to where you should be. If your first semester grades or midterms show a significant decline, that's detrimental, Johnson says. Admissions officers do field angry or rude calls and emails from students or parents upset about the deferral.

Actions speak louder than words, so promising a college that you will do better isn't worth much. Everybody is busy. Yes, you want to share your accomplishments, but these should be significant. Make sure any recommendation letters or follow-up communication tells the admissions officer something about you that he or she didn't know before. Overall, it's a balancing act: Make it clear you still want to go to that school and do what you can to stand out in its applicant pool.

But don't go overboard, and don't neglect or prematurely rule out the other colleges on your list. Now you have you to have wait until the end of March or April 1. By Kaitlin Mulhere December 18, Don't automatically assume that it means this. Like so many parts of the college admissions process, it depends.